Sorana

=============== Althea kept her face impassive when a large chunk of debris fell to the ground behind her. They were running out of time. And quickly. "I suggest we start." Tapping a tiny bit of stormlight, just enough to make her feel a little stronger she turned around towards the building and forced her thoughts to concentrate on the facts. "I can take us to the top, so that we can move down, evacuate whoever is still inside. Given the fact that it's the festival night, many won't be home and I suspect that those able to will be either outside, or on their way there already. The firebrigade should be here soon - there's no way they missed it, so we probably only need to cover a short amount of time until we get some support." Taking a deep breath she turned back, forced her eyes to rest on something else. "Most likely we will have to help those unable to walk, be it because of age, bodily condition or alcohol." And if they had family, they were either out, celebrating, unable to help their relatives or not caring about them. Extending her hands she forced herself to pretend it was a normal building, something harmless. She could do this. She had to. She had sworn an oath to control her emotions, to master her fear. And she could do it. Fear was a tool, something to make her aware of danger. It was nothing that could rule her completely. Hopefully. @BringerOfLight @I think I am here.

Here you are. He's approved with the change! ============ Character approved! And welcome to the Ghostbloods

"Only the oath?" the man winked at him. "You realize that without the tattoo you won't have access to most of our secret bases?" Typical newbie. Didn't plan to stay, didn't plan to get the tattoo - it was always the same. Not that he would complain, at least this one knew what he was talking about and appeared to be competent. Compared to some others he'd met during his career that was an awesome plus. "Speak after me." "I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely support and defend the Ghostbloods and its decrees against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; to forsake all other guilds and clans within the Alleyverse. That I will bear arms on behalf of the Ghostbloods when required by the Council; that I will gather all information, intelligence, and recruitment (when necessary) when required by the Council; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the Council; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me Adonalsium. "

Wita nodded. "Do we want to take the elevator?" she asked as she followed him inside. The sky was already a dark grey, first rays of sunlight brightening it in the first minutes of dawn. They were running out of time. "I suppose we could look for a set of stairs -" she trailed off and reached into her pocket, held up the blueprint. The elevator was in the middle, but there had to be some stairs, there always were stairs. Frowning she looked at the plan, tried to understand its meaning. "There." she whispered after a while and held it up in front of her. "There is no staircase leading to spedific story, but an emergency escape ladder is placed outside. And it should lead past that story as well. We might need to climb through the -" A sound interrupted her and she froze, eyes hurried over to the elevator that was nearing their story.

A shop. It was a shop with an owner, a customer and they were discussing to buy something, to soulcast something else. It was a shop. With a groan Mike pressed a hand over his face, closed his eyes and tried to sort his thoughts. He had taken the wrong alley. He had to have. There was no other way, no other possibility. Stumbling backwards he pressed his body again the door, needed to feel something solid and strong. A wrong alley. Nothing more, nothing less. It was so easy. No need to freak out over a wrong alley. "I'm sorry." he said quietly, forced himself to open his eyes again. "I fear I mistook this alley for another one." But he couldn't. He vividly remembered the little turn at the beginning, the house with the chipped facade. He was in the right place. He knew it. Except for the one fact, that he wasn't. He was a teenager. He was allowed to take a wrong turn now and then. That was it. Nothing more. Only a wrong turn at night. He repeated the thought again and again and again, telling himself that everything was harmless, ignoring the nagging voice that told him, that he knew, knew far too well how these alleys looked, that he always navigated them at night. Thinking about the tavern he tried to place it somewhere else, but couldn't. It was here. Maybe a building up or down, but here, here in this specific alley. Straightening he looked at the other two, realized that he wasn't reaching the same height they did. Smiling awkwardly, he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "I appear to have gotten lost." he admitted, and despite the fact that he was standing in a shop he hadn't known it existed the words tasted like a lie. "If I could come along, could you maybe point out a few waypoints for me?"

The moment I'm back on a computer. Can't do it on mobile. Something like 12 hours probably. I don't know for sure. My tomorrow sometime.

Ohhh good! I was really wondering why someone would read through the nonesense...

Maybe.... respect for that.

How did you find that post???

Sagitta considered his words for a while, took her time to view the situation from different angles. Tion had a dark side, who represented his urge to destroy. She hadn't met that part of him, but if it was true, she had to be careful. Ensure she wasn't taken by surprise should his behaviour change. It happened sometimes that people went crazy especially after they had fought a few battles. An asset. Was Last an asset? He was invisible to everybody but Tion, maybe to the other gods. He could influence dreams, maybe memories. They could definitely use him, but for now there was another information that had caught her attention. That made him an asset, but it also made him dangerous. If only Tion could see him, how could they ensure that he wouldn't betray them, that his actions and theirs would align. Biting on her lip she frowned. There was no way to get rid of that risk. If they wanted to use him, then they had to accept that despite the fact that they appeared to walk into the same direction, there was no guarantee that he wouldn't sacrifice them in the end only to achieve a larger goal. "Last mentioned, that there is a possibility to replace a god." she picked up a fact from a few minutes earlier. "Would it help to replace the crazy ones? Exchange them for - someone/ something else?" she wasn't entirely sure how that might work, but Last wouldn't have mentioned it, if it wasn't possible. If the gods were sane again, maybe they could get them to help as well, to work against the world ending together. Despite everything, they were still gods. They were powerful, far more powerful than she would ever be. "And if it's possible, how can we do it? Will it help taking a look at the large picture?" @AonEne

Althea suppressed a smile at his comment. Compared to some other situations this one was nearly perfect for a moment. Nobody was trying to kill them, nobody was holding one of them hostage and nobody was blowing up the city right here and right now. She touched Max hand softly with her own, reassured herself that he was here, real, and not some trick of her mind. His skin was warm and she turned her head, looked into his eyes for a moment. Reaching for their bond she let him see her turmoil, the brittle balance that allowed her to walk, to think again, the way she held on to his calmness. Turning back towards the Radiant she focused on the topic at hand. "I think I know how to find him. Either by following him through the tunnels, or by asking around - there was a man here earlier, who appeared to know him. Maybe he has some clues." she informed the others, still not turning towards the building. It seemed as if she would have to do that soon enough. I'll need your help. she added for Max. If I am to do anything but break down again inside. "But for now, evacuating is more important. If I remember correctly most of the staircases should still be sound, and if not, I might be able to take care of that." She opened her bag and looked inside. Her spheres were dark, but when she felt inside of her bracelet she touched Investiture. Not as much as there had been to begin with, but enough to support a little getting these people out. Realizing that they had skipped something else she inclined her head in greeting. "Let's start with this. I am Althea, and this is my husband Max. Who are you? I don't think we've met before."

"Are you willing to speak the oath? Bind yourself to us with tatoo?" the man asked, his voice calm, ignoring the Fadran's last words. He didn't need to proof anything. If he wanted, he could take care of him right here and now. But, he didn't want to. Fadran was interesting, strong in his will and mind. Let him serve the Ghostbloods until he grew tired. The moment he turned against them, they could always get rid of him. And if he simply left while keeping their secrets, well in that case he supposed he could close both eyes.

Shana let him. She followed, made sure she kept her eyes on his figure to ensure that he wouldn't hurt their friends, but she let him go. She had meant what she said, didn't question her decision. There was a time for fighting, for killing. And there was a time for mercy. She had no quarrel with the Voidbringer, not as long as he left her and her family alone. She wouldn't hurt him because of what he was. She would hurt him, if he hurt hers. And so far he hadn't done anything the like.

Mike clutched his bag to his body hurrying through the streets. His stepts were fast, so fast he was nearly running, trying to get away as far from the Hospital as possible. Something about that place creeped him out, despite the fact that he had managed to grab some pain killers that could come in handy at one point or the other. Maybe it was a haunted place, full of the ghosts and screams of those in some of the wings, those that were so crazy that you needed to lock them away. He was more comfortable outside, picking a pocket now and then, helping clueless festival visitors to lighten their pockets. This was where he belonged, where he was comfortable. He should have sticked to it, should have avoided all other places. Opening a larger pouch he smiled in delight at the amount of spheres that were waiting for him inside of it. They would get him a nice, cool beer and something to eat as well. His hands loosened his grip on his bag when the weird feeling that had haunted him ever since his visit at the hospital slowly faded away. It was a good night. He had enough money for food, he had gotten his hands on some sweets and even some medicine. The rest was nothing but his imagination running awry in his head. Better to focus on what was real. Humming to himself he turned into a smaller alleyway. There had been a tavern somewhere around here. He had visited it now and then, remembered that their beer was fabolous. Mike didn't bother to read the sign above the door, knew he was entering the right place. He had grown up in these alleys, had run through them ever since he could walk. Finding one of the cheap, but good taverns was easy. "Hello." he greeted the guests and the inkeeper as he stepped into the room. "I would like to have a cool beer and some stew." Only then did he realize that he wasn't standing inside of a tavern. The room in front of him was unorganized, full of stuff and dominated by a large desk. Freezing in place he tried to fit the image of a nice and cozy tavern, a place where he had drunk several times to this mess. He couldn't. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

============== Althea listened to the Dustbringer, heard his noises grow quieter and quieter until he was gone. She sagged down, remained lying on the ground for a moment. Her thoughts whirled around, memories of smoke, of pain and fire mixing with the smoke and the orange light visible through the hole in the ceiling above her. Someone was shouting, calling out to her, but she wasn't able to grasp the words, heart still beating far too quickly, lungs working hard to get any air inside of her body at all. She knew that her body was covered in cold sweat, but couldn't bringer herself to care about it, nor about the dirt on her cloths or the crack in her mask. It wasn't important. Nothing was important. Nothing, but the fear the smell, the sound, the colours of the fire so easily woke again. It had been months since she had been hit like that. Ever since speaking her last oath she had been more or less in control, had accepted it all as a part of herself. But then she hadn't ended up in a burning building either. Again. Like a vicious circle she always ended up in the same spot. Again and again and again. It took her a while to summon the strength to push herself up to her knees, only managed when a sliver of calmness rose withing her chest. Like a flower trapped in a strom it shivvered, but she reached out for it, pulled it close. Max. It had to be him. Crawling over to a nearby wall, she noticed that the stone was slightly warm to the touch, but ignored it for now, pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her forehead on them. Breathe. Slowly, deeply. She could deal with this. She had dealt with it for so many years, she wouldn't fall back to the point when there was no way back, when she needed some medicine to keep her thoughts, her mind straight, the panic at bay. Tapping a tiny bit of stormlight she used the familiar feeling to anchor herself, held on to it. Concentrating to breath she stayed where she was, trusted Brashen to warn her, should she be in danger and focused on nothing else but calming herself down, slowing her heart and breathing, stopping her hands from shaking that much. In and out. In and out. In and out. When she opened her eyes again, straightened she felt shaky, slightly distached from her own body. Empty. Getting to her feet she shook her head, tried to clear it, to focus, avoiding to look upwards towards the flames. Vaguely she could remember a man calling out to her and looked around, tried to see him. Nobody was close, even Max had left, probably fighting the flame or evacuating the building. Leaving one hand on the wall closest to her she slowly walked towards the door that had been carved into the side. The third Radiant was outside, plus two other people she didn't know. "He fled." she stated her voice sounding flat, careful to avoid looking up at the building behind her. "I think evacuating is more important." Although she wasn't entirely sure how she could do that while avoiding the flames. Tiredly she removed the remains of her mask, used a sleeve to roughly clean her face. He's gone. I'm outside. she sent to Max along with a wave of gratefulness. Without his help she would have taken hours to snap out of it. @BringerOfLight @I think I am here. ( @kenod @Shard of Reading )

The man raised an eyebrow and stayed quiet for a while, his eyes remaining on Fadran's figure, his fingers holding the dagger, his posture. He wasn't preparing for a fight, but he didn't doubt that this could change any moment. This applicant was dangerous - and he liked dangerous. Amusement in his eyes he leaned against a nearby wall, his posture relaxed, despite remaining ready to act should it be neccessary. "It sounds like the truth." he replied wryly and spread his hands. "But I have to admit, I've heard more convincing speeches." His voice remained calm. The man interested him, he was more than the average thug, and that was good. He could always use someone who actually had some brain inside of their head, someone who had some motivation apart from money living in their heart. "You intrigue me." he added calmly. "You've got some fire, I value that. Although you opened up another question: what will happen once our interests don't align anymore? Will you leave? Betray us to another guild? Steal our secrets and kill our members?" He shrugged nonchalantly. "You said it yourself: right now your interests benefit ours. Right now. And afterwards?"

I'll participate! Anybody willing to share a district with me?

Thanks a lot! I'll add him to the list! ======= Thank you! I'll add him to our list.

A slight smile split the man's face when he watched the recruit step into the alleyway, adress the darkness there loudly. His wore dark, nondescript clothing, leaned against a wall, mostly hidden by the shadows. A scar split his right cheek in half, nearly invisible by the darkness cast over his face by his hood. Courageous and strong, this new one. Good attributes for someone wishing to join the guild. It had been a while, since someone with his age and skills had requested to be a part of the guild. He had started to follow him, had asked a few questions of his own about him, and the answers he had received pleased him greatly. Finally someone worth spending some time with. After placing the hint with this place he had made sure he arrived before him, ensure that it was indeed safe. At least safe for him. For the candidate - that part depended greatly upon his skills and replies. His hand closed around one of his daggers and he silently pulled it out of his sheath. His fingers flipped it into the air easily, caught it again and then he threw it at a spot close to the man's head. "Hello." he replied, not bothering to speak loudly. "That depends. Do you have what it takes to join?"

============= Vivi moved a little backwards, when the weird man stepped up to her, grinned his scary, twisted grin. Reval was angry, she could see it, hear it in his voice and that scared her even more. This was supposed to be a good night, a special night. Time for her to spend with him, to eat sweets and to jump over fire. Not to discuss these things. The man made her feel as if she needed to run, to flee, but they were trapped in the bubble. "I'm not." she hastily shook her head, despite the copper burning inside of her. "I'm noone special." She inched closer to Reval, grateful when he took the conversation over. She had hoped to distract the man so that they could run, but instead he had slowed down the time around nearly completely. Even if their parents were close, they wouldn't be able to help them. Not like this. "Rainbowglow is special." she hastily added, "she's magical and beautiful, strong and never gives up." she started to babble. "But then she has to be, or she wouldn't be Rainbowglow. Nobody is as special as she is." Falling silent she shot a glance at her brother, hoped for some guidance, for a plan to get them out of here. @Nohadon @I think I am here.

Fire. Althea took another breath, eyes searching the ceiling again to find the orange glow above her, imagined to hear a panicked scream from above. Or maybe it was there, maybe there were people screaming, calling out for help. For a help that might take a long time to come, especially on this night. Smoke, the stench of burning apartments filled her lungs and a shiver ran along her spine, her hands tightening into fists. Sephtis grinned at her again, walked through the streets of a burning city, lifting hand every now and then, and every single time a building started to burn, screams filled the air nearly drowned out by the sounds of buildings crumbling beneath their own weight. The air was hot, so hot it scorched her skin, hurt her lungs and only stormlight stopped her from suffocating, her lungs nothing but a charred black mass. She tried to breathe, but the air was so hot, no, it was warm, tasted like fire, but it wasn't burning her throat. Her throat constricted when she closed her eyes, tried to calmly breathe in an out, but only managed a gasp for sir, heart beating too quickly. Fear gripped her tight, memories vivid in front of her eyes, so vivid she had trouble to know what was real and what had happened years ago. A sob escaped her lips, as her eyes rested on his figure again, hands shaking so badly she pressed them against her legs in a vain attempt to steady them. The woman's eyes were dark, full of fear and pain, her new face, the face she had stolen from his memories, his fear his pain - "Where ARE YOU!" Althea flinched back from the hole, his reaction made no sense, he knew where she was. But he'd stayed, throwing his body around like a trapped animal, only that he wasn't trapped. He could leave, head through the stone, but he stayed. Tears dropped down on her knees, joined the water around her when she remembered calling out, following, unable to prevent the destruction, unable to get him to stop to listen. Pain constricted her chest as she rang for air again, tried to sort it all apart, to separate this building from so many others. First there had been fire and destruction, then it would crumble to the ground, drag all these lives into death. It was the same, always the same, an endless circle and here she was again, in another burning building unable to stop, to prevent any of this from happening. Her way was nothing but a list of failures, she should take up a weapon, kill him, spill his blood. It would protect, it would save countless others, all for the price of one live. One for so many others. But she hadn't killed Sephtis. She had watched to many die, only to help him, had payed the price. There was a way. There had to be way, a possibility everybody could live with. Staring down into the hole she found her own conviction crumble, just like the building would. Her tears had left clean streaks on her cheeks and she was still looking down, trying and failing to come up with something good. Again. He wasn't listening and she didn't know enough about him to understand why he was acting like that. She had no clues, no data, only failure and pain, the shadow of fear making her muscles hard and her heart stumble through its beat. Her hands shook when she lifted one of them, brushed a loose strand out of her face wishing he would listen, wishing he had given her a chance to reply. But he hadn't. And now, now it was too late to change anything. He would never listen, not now, not if he sounded like this. Because she knew. Back in Oasis, when Max - She looked up, found him on the ground close to her, weaponless as well. Max. It explained so much, set the man's reaction into a larger frame and she shivvered again, when she knew, when she really, really understood what he was feeling. Pain, despair, loneliness, strong so strong that she'd clawed at her face, hurt her eyes, that she'd done nothing but scream, her mind nothing more than a chaotic maelstrom of emotions, ripping herself apart. "Stop." She whispered, hoped that he would hear, her voice hoarse from the smoke, from crying. Pressing her hand against the stone, the dirt underneath the foundation she exhaled again, opened a path for him, one leading away from the building. He would kill again and these lives, all of them, they would stain her hands red, a deep dark red, adding to the lives of those she'd never been able to save. "Just leave." She repeated, unable to hide the shaking of her voice and layed on the ground. Leave. She knew it wasn't wise to let him go, only knew that his scream his despair resonated within her chest, the hopelessness calling forth another city another place, another man who was deaf to her words. They all were. None had listened, had been willing to talk things out, to find a different way, one they could all follow. But right here and now, there was his scream, mixing with her own, ripping apart the walls she had build, the steps she had taken. Control. It was all about control, a sliver, a tiny part of herself still thinking, analyzing, realizing that she was about to loose it completely, that she was tethering on that edge again. Focus. She only needed to focus for a second, a heartbeat. A wild, erratic, panicked heartbeat. The stone followed her suggestion, opened a path for him to go, a possibility. Because she knew. Because she would have wanted a path as well. @Ashbringer @I think I am here.

Things happened. As usual Althea quickly lost sight of who did what, who attacked whom and she tried to follow the blows, to understand what was going on. Max arrived, as well as another Skybreaker and she suppressed a curse. She'd really, honestly hoped to solve this without. Althea watched as the fight took to the sky, kept her eyes on the two men, trying to guess where they would land. It was easy to see, the Dustbringer was strong, erasing nearly a whole building and she changed position, moved there, grateful the she knew the city well. She found the Dustbringer moving downwards, the Skybreaker following and let go of her weapon. No use trying to intimidate anybody around here. She was probably the most harmless one around. "Stop." She shouted and tried to get their attention. "Escape if you want to, but stop burning through the homes of innocent people." Rubble was falling down around her and she grit her teeth. Stupid. Was she really stupid to try, or was it - she didn't follow the thought, instead soulcast the dust around them into water. It left her dripping wet, but at least she could breathe. Hopefully if would help with some of the flames as well. Above - they were above, far away. Focus. Tapping a lot more her body shone for a moment when she touched her thoughts to the stone below him. Exhaling she offered it up, turned it into aluminum, not thick but wide spread. Stall him, turn him another direction. He could still escape, but hopefully without making the whole building topple over. She'd seen too much of that already. "Leave. But don't destroy the foundation. There are innocents above you." @Ashbringer

"Behind you." Brashen warned her and she stepped a little to the side, so that her back faced another building. Another Radiant, or at least someone with a Shardbalde ran towards them and she immediatly summoned Brashen again. Feeling a little more secure with her softly glowing helbard in hand she continued her way along the street after a glance back at the rest of her group - this visible albeit a bit away. There were fine, no fighting going on there. And she could be with them within the blink of an eye. Reassured that this was nothing she had to care about right now, she focused back on her own situation. The charred pavement led to a spot that she couldn't view completely, perfect for an ambush. Subtely wasn't the man's strength, but that didn't mean that he was no threat. Sephtis hadn't been subtle either. And he had turned villages and cities into a mess of churning flames with nothing more but a wave of his hand. And killed, not-killed Max. Not killed. Swallowing she reached out of their bond, searched for the feeling of Max on the other side. Not-killed. Only a trick he'd played with her senses. Nothing more. She was glad that there was no larger fire close by and that so far, nobody had decided to explode anything either. She had gotten better at warding the memories of, but they still distracted her, made her hands shake until she had herself under control again. And with two potential Radiants, with some luck nobody able to influence her mind would join this fight either. "You're hiding over there." Althea called out and stopped moving, back still facing the wall. Until she knew wether the newcomer would fight with her or with the criminal, she had to keep an eye on both. "Step outside and let's talk. There is no need to fight." She had tried before and he had responded with throwing a corpse into her face, so she wasn't sure if this would have some kind of effect. Although in the end it was better to try, than to regret not trying later on. The chance was slim, but maybe they could still talk this out. @Ashbringer @BringerOfLight